Urban South Brewery’s Houston Outpost Sets an Opening Date

Urban South is just about ready to bring a little Louisiana hospitality to Houston. The craft brewery, which has grown by leaps and bounds since opening in 2019, is just about ready to kick open the doors of its new satellite brewery in Houston’s Sawyer Yards District — the first outside of its home in New Orleans.

The grand opening is slated for February 29, Urban South just announced yesterday. “We are in the final sprint to the finish line,” Marin Slanina, taproom and marketing manager for Urban South - HTX, told Eater. That means putting the final touches on the new 14,000 square-foot facility, which includes a 5,000-square-foot public taproom with a patio and beer garden and a 4,000-square-foot private event space that’s also used for its barrel aging program.

Urban South HTX will revolve around that taproom, which is decorated with a 20-foot-tall brightly-colored mural, crisp white paint, and a standout, 30-tap draft wall with acrylic tap handles. The brewery plans to host all sorts of events, from beer releases to game watches to collaborations with its neighboring Sawyer Yards businesses. Food trucks and food pop-ups will be on hand every day that Urban South - HTX is open.

The family-friendly brewery will also offer wine, cider, and non-alcoholic options like nitro coffee and kombucha. “Whether you don’t drink beer or you do drink beer, or you’ve never been to a brewery before in your life or you’ve been to 2100 breweries in your life, we want to be able to offer something for all,” Slanina said.

Urban South already brand awareness in Houston from folks who’ve visited New Orleans and beyond: Slanina notes that its beer is in the Superdome and available in shops like grocery stores all over Louisiana. The Houston outpost also reeled in local brewers with Dave Ohmer serving as Urban South Brewery - HTX General Manager, and Justin Slanina as Urban South Brewery’s research and development brewer.

Urban South - HTX will have a style of its own, while riffing on Urban South favorites and creating experimental brews. “People ask: ‘Are you going to have Holy Roller,’ which is a pale ale. We won’t necessarily have the exact recipe of Holy Roller, but we will have a pale ale that has a hops blend similar to Holy Roller, that is produced out of New Orleans. The styles will be very similar. The tastes will be very similar,” Slanina explained.

• This New Orleans Brewery Is Branching Out With a Sawyer Yards Outpost [EHOU]
• A First Look at Urban South Brewery [ENOLA]
• Urban South Brewery [Official Site]